The Face in the Flames and The Invisible Mandolin
by Almighty Oracle
Summary: It's an El Dorado Horror story with a little Alfred Hitchcock and Twilight zone mixed in.


The Face in the Flames and the Invisible Mandolin  
  
by The Almighty Oracle aka Guadalupe del Oceano  
  
Rating: PG  
  
Setting: Barcelona, Spain 1519 at the time Miguel and Tulio are in El Dorado, Miguel's girlfriend Guadalupe, a tavern owner, has a horrifying, unexplainable experience.  
  
Lupe walked quietly home. The night was still and the air was sweet. She passed by a couple, a man giving his señorita a rose. She turned away as she began to feel her eyes tear up. "stop it "she told herself "it's been two months, he's gone" No matter how hard she tried she couldn't forget about Miguel, the love of her life. The worst part is that she had no idea what happened to him. One morning he came in for breakfast, then when he left she never saw Miguel or his partner Tulio again. The thoughts of them being in prison or dead in some alley haunted her dreams. She got to her house and began to unlock the door. On the ground laid Miguel and Tulio's tattered wanted poster. She knelt to pick it up, but the wind blew it out of sight before she could reach it. "An omen?" She hoped not. She felt that all that she had done by protecting him was worthless, and only delayed the inevitable. She walked inside. "Why do I still think about him?" "Because you love him." a voice came out of the darkness of the room. Lupe lit a candle and picked up a ladle. "Who said that?" she saw no one in the room but she continued to hear the voice. "Because you love him" "Leave me alone who ever you are!" she screamed. The fire place lit it self and blazed wildly. She began to hear music, being played softly. The music sounded like it came from all around her and not from an instrument in the room. She listened closely, it was a mandolin, the instrument Miguel played. She looked into the fireplace and wondered how it lit it self. "Who are you?" there was no answer. She backed up. "Who are you? Why have you come to haunt me?" "Because you love him" The music grew louder "Leave me alone!" She dropped the ladle and knelt on the floor covering ears from the music. "Because you love him." said the voice. "Stop it!" She cried, burying her face in her hands, not only because of what was happening around her was confusing, but she missed Miguel. She couldn't live without him and she wanted him back. This spirit kept taunting her with the music from his invisible mandolin, and saying what she already knew, That she loved him. The light from the fireplace slowed and became a glow, it looked almost frozen. His face! She could see it in the glow of the flames. "Miguel!" She reached out to touch him but everything went black. "No don't go!" she whispered.  
  
The birds chirped in the trees outside she slowly woke on the floor. "What happened?" She looked around her and saw that she fell asleep on the living room floor. Next to her was a ladle. "The fireplace." She looked at the fireplace. It was clean there was no wood even for a fire to start. She sat there with her cloak still on from the night before. Lolita walked in. "Boy Lupe it looks like you were hit by a carriage." "Yeah, I seemed to have fallen asleep on the floor." "That's why they invented beds my dear, and you have a nice one upstairs. Why don't you use it next time." Lolita was being sarcastic as always. She helped her up. Lupe was still feeling confused and dizzy. She sat on the couch under the stairs. Lupe grabbed Lolita's arm. "I saw him Lolita, he was there in the fireplace." "Who?" "Miguel, and then he disappeared." "You were having a dream that's all" said Lolita "No! It was real, I saw him, I could feel him here." "Lupe, he and Tulio are still missing, remember? They have been gone and no one has seen them. You have to stop this, you're going crazy!" "But I can't stop! I love him and I can't rest until he's back." Lupe stood up and paced about the room. "His image haunts my dreams, I hear music from his mandolin, I think I see him standing there behind me, but when I turn, there is no one there. I miss him so much I just don't know what to do anymore, I'll be insane before he comes back. "Lolita took her arm and led her back to the couch. "I think you should stay home, you need rest. Now just lay there and go to sleep." Lupe sighed as she laid down on the couch. "Maybe you're right." "Good, now go to sleep, I'll take care of everything." "Thanks" Lolita left and went to the tavern. Lupe laid in the quiet. She was so tired. She looked to the corner of the room and saw Miguel's mandolin resting on a chair. She smiled and went to sleep not knowing or caring how the stringed instrument ended up there.  
  
THE END 


End file.
